Improved process of scouring and cleansing wool and woolen fabrics



0. MACDANIEL.

Process of Securing and Cleaning Wool and Woolen Fabrics.

Patented Nov. 19, 1867.

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znznw ff watt sw ms OFFICE Q OSBORNE MAGDANIEL, O NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED PRocEss'oF scousme AND CLEANSlNG WOOL AND WOOLEN'FABRI'CS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 71,191, dated November 19, 1867. I

7 art to understand and use the same, reference being bad to the I accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. v

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus employed in my improved process for scouring wool and woolen fabrics, and extracting the oil therefrom, partly in section, and partly exposed by the removal of portions of the exterior. Fig. 2 represents a set ofrollers for crushing the tag-locks and dirtballs on wool.

This invention or discovery'relates to an improved process for securing wool, and extracting the oil therefrom, and also washing and extracting the oil from woolen fabrics, whichimprovement consists in employing benzine or naphtha, the product of petroleum, or natural rock-oil, so called, for the purpose of washing and cleansing raw wooland woolen fabrics of the oil, dirt, and other impurities adhering to them, and separating the naphtha therefrom, after their separation from the wool and woolen fabrics, by distillation, for the purpose of saving and utilizing the oil and dirt,

I am aware that the bisulphide of carbon, chloroform, ether, and benzole, or naphtha, the product of coal-tar, have been employed previously for the purpose of extracting-oils from wool, seeds, and other substances; but these chemical agents have all proved objectionable for general practical use, on account of the waste and loss attendant on their use, from their highly volatile nature, and their great cost.

Benzine, or the naphtha of petroleum is, however, free from these objections to its practical application to this purpose on a large scale, for the reason that it is produced in enormous quantities at the oil-distilleries established so extensively since the recent discovery of petroleum in this country, and is sold at so cheap a price. Benzine, or the naphtha of petroleum, is also a diflerent substance from benzole or the naphtha of coal-tar and this chemical product, of recent discovery, has not been applied to the purpose of scouring wool, for whichit is better adapted than any chemical agent hithertoknown and employed. The difference in' the chemical composition of coal-tar benzole and petroleum benzine is well known to chemists, as distinguished in elementary composition by the formulae, coal-tar benzole=G12 H6, petroleum benzineOl2 H14.

. I havefound by experiment/that benzine is a better agent for cleansing wool and woolen fabrics ofoil and other adhering impurities than benzole, while it is free from apeculiarly unpleasant odor possessed by benzole, which is objectionable on account of its tenacious character. But the great advantage possessed Y by benzine or petroleum naphtha over benzole and all other chemical agents'tor scour-" ing wool, is its great abundance and exceed in g cheapness, and this new application of it' will extend vastly a market for a product now in limited demand, thegsupply of which can beincreased to any amount'required, and

thus promote a great national interest.

The apparatus employed by me for the pur-' pose of scouring wool with naphtha, and utilizing the oil contained therein and in woolen fabrics, consists in machinery for washing and distilling.

A represents a scouring or washingtub, similar in its general construction to the tub of a paper engine. B is a horizontal shaft, hung on one side of the tub, to be operated by a pulley with steam-power. A series of radial arms or spokes, a a, of iron or wood, project from the shaft B, reaching nearly to the bottom of the tub. A dofier may be added to strip the arms of the wool catching on them. The bottom and sides of the tub are made of sheet metal, and double-walledor jacketed for the admission of steam, and in the bottom is a grated opening, b, to allow the discharge of the wash through a pipe to a still, C.;*, ;The tub A is supplied with naphtha from a tank placed above, as shown in red in the drawing, or directly from a tank, D, below, by a forcepump, 0, which lifts the naphtha into the tub or elevated tank, as required.

The first operation necessary in the treat v This maybe done with direct steam, or by addrawn ofl' with the dirt and oil into the still, steamis admitted into the jacket of the washtub for the purpose of distilling the adhering ment of the wool, to cleanse it completely, is crushing the tag-locks or hard lumps of dirt and excrement adhering thereto. This operation is performed readily by passing the wool between rollers, as shown in Fig. 2, or a succession of rollers. The wool must be saturated with naphtha when passing through the rollers, to prevent staining by the coloring matter of the dirt entering the fiber, as it will do when crushed dry, or wet with water. By this operation the tag-locks, which are now out 0E as waste, making a loss of three per cent. in some fine wools, will be saved. The wool is then introduced into the washer with naphtha, and the action of the arms a a in their revolution will beat and thoroughly discharge theoil and dirt from the fiber. When sheep have been tarred or, marked with paint, it is necessary to heat the naphtha with steam, in order to soften the refractory resinous substances, and separate them from the wool.

mitting steam into the jacket of the wash-tub or coils of pipe within it. The operation of washing is to be continued, and'fresh naphthe added until it passes ofl'. quite clean. Some portion of the dirt or excrement of the sheep still remaining in the wool after washing in the naphtha, will'dissolve in water, and L may be entirely removed by washing in pure water, if desired. When the wool has thus been perfectly cleansed, and the naphtha naphtha, and thus drying the wool. The tub A is provided with a cover, which sets, with a lip, ina groove around the upperedge of the tub'filled with water, that serves as a packing to prevent evaporation during the whole J of the operation, as shown in the tub E, Fig. 1.

The still 0 is provided with a suitable coil,or is nadewith a jacket forthe admission of steam,

by which the naphtha, mixed with the oil and dirt, is distifled over into the condenser F, and thence returned in a'pure state to the receiving-tank D to be employed over again. continuous circuit of operationsisthus main- For the purpose of extracting the oil from woolen fabrics, they may be put into a revolving perforated cylinder, G, in the tub E,

and there washed with naphtha, and dried in the same manner as the wool before described. Other apparatus may be employed for this purpose.

After the naphtha has been all distilled from the grease and dirt in the still 0, the residuum is drawn ofl' into a tub, where the grease is separated from the dirt to be purified for various profitable uses, while the dirt becomes valuable as a manure.

By this process wool and woolen fabrics are thoroughly scoured and cleansed of oiland dirt without the application of water in any stage of the operation, and with great facility, dispatch, and economy.

Havin described my improved process of scouring wool and extracting the oil therefrom, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

I. An improved process of scouring, wool and woolen fabrics, and removing the oil therefrom, substantially as herein described.

2.An apparatus, employing steam indirectly, for scouting and drying wool, combined with a still, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. Crushing the tag-locks and lumps of dirt when saturated with naphtha, preparatory to scouring the wool, substantially as and for the purpose described.

. t O. MAGDANIEL. Witnesses:

J. ALISON FRASER, WM. F. MONAMARA. 

